Planning.....changes.....take off

My Italian sojourn as I like to call it happened quite by chance, after returning at the end of May I thought about penning my experience to help others venturing to Italy learn a few things, but that didn't happen.

Suddenly, I find myself with time on my hands so decided to write about my dream trip to Italy and Austria (not really a destination I ever planned to visit)

For ease of reading I have penned the experiences by days of our trip rather than by location....here it is....

Planning the trip 

It all started in the first week of Feb, 2013 with my boss sharing the latest product offerings from FIT; he said the offering was the best rate considering the hotels and inclusions in the tour. I checked with some of my friends on their interest and settled quickly on Mansi who immediately said yes, tell when we should go.

The original offering from them was 7 Days, 6 Nights – 2 days each in Rome, Florence and Venice.

14 Feb - we finalized the itinerary with the inclusion of 2 nights at Innsbruck to get a different experience from just visiting Italy and the cultural experience. Innsbruck and Salzburg, one day in each city was the plan, getting to view the Alps up close and experience the alpine scenery on our train journeys across the region. Instead of starting in Italy and ending in Austria or vice versa, my boss suggested including Austria as our 2^nd stop after Venice due to its proximity. So the planned itinerary now was –

1 - Bom-Ven

2 - Ven

3 – Ven-Innsbruck (Train)

4 – Innsbruck to Salzburg (Day trip by Train)

5 – Innsbruck-Florence (Train)

6- Florence

7 – Florence-Rome (Train)

8 – Rome

9 – Rome-Bom

We got the E-ticket done on the same day for 21 and 29 May on Swiss Airlines and gave a hefty deposit to show our intent on the next day which was Feb 15. Wow, we were going to Italy a long dreamed of destination for both of us; just that instead of going with a significant other (which would have been first choice for the romantic destination of Venice) we were both going with a friend!

18 Feb – the first draft of the itinerary was shared with me by the travel agent.

19 Feb – Italy visa requirements and form shared by the travel agent, a long list of documents and photographs with specifications given.

We spent the next few weeks till the first week of March finalizing the itinerary including the train timings which were crucial. I had checked the train timings on the Swiss website – sbb.ch and decided on which trains suited our requirements the best.

Some of the trains suggested by the travel agent had a changeover time of just 8 minutes during which we had to jump from one train and go across to another platform to catch our connecting train. I felt the time was just too short to risk it; anything could cause us to miss the connection from bad weather, delays on the track or just us taking time to figure out the station and the platform we had to reach. I got most of the trains changed to ones with a gap of at least 25 minutes between connecting trains. In practice this proved to be a good thing as most of the stations are huge and involved long walks across platforms to reach the one on which our train was to arrive.

Also something we learnt on reaching Europe is that all European trains arrive just 15 minutes prior to departure at the station, that doesn’t leave much time if your first train is delayed. Hence the announcement on the display boards of the platform on which your train is arriving is literally 15-20 minutes prior to your departure time. So if you reach the station half an hour earlier you might not be able to find your train listed on the display.

8 April – Both Mansi and I were busy collecting our Visa documents and getting the photographs done as per the specifications; we finally managed to get them all done today and sent to the travel agent. Now we await news of our visa appointment. We of course thought we would be called in for an interview for the visa.

9 May – After almost a month and many anxious calls to our travel agency contact, finally I heard from him today that our visa is through, yay!!!

Now we are really going to Italy this month end...the excitement for the trip is just getting built.

18 May  - Things really picked up now, we did the balance payment for our trip and purchased the Euros in both cash and put some on a pre-paid card to use there. I finally get the hotel vouchers, Sightseeing bus vouchers and train tickets from the agency + a free travel bag (which I haven’t used till date)

I complete most of my packing today and purchased a couple of extra sweaters as the weather looks to be quite cold in both Italy and especially in Austria. They are showing daily temperatures of 4 degrees to 12 degrees Centigrade in Innsbruck and rains expected during the days we plan to be there....I hate being cold so it’s definitely going to be a challenge.  I have made preparations to take on the cold weather by borrowing a woollen hat and gloves from a good friend; I had a woollen scarf; which has had minimal use in Mumbai...and a last minute purchase of thermals was done yesterday.

20 May - Flying tonight.....really excited now that we are starting our trip. We plan to meet directly at the airport in the evening; both of us are leaving around 8pm from our homes. Cool cab booked for the evening trip well in advance.

Last minute jitters happened when I discovered our Florence Sightseeing Hop On Hop Off bus voucher was missing in the morning when I did a check of our vouchers, I don’t know how I missed it on Friday when I went through all the vouchers. Frantic call to the travel agency contact and I got them to email the soft copy which was done by them by 7pm!!! Print out secured and included in the pouch in which I am carrying all the travel documents.

Bag is already packed, just throw in the toilet case, toothbrush etc. I am worried about the liquid ban regulations especially at Zurich Airport hence choose not to carry any liquids or gels in my hand bag.

Last minute check – tickets, passport, vouchers, train tickets...all there.

All ready, finally....